


To Vent

by SkyLeaf



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25808122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyLeaf/pseuds/SkyLeaf
Summary: Sometimes, an attempt at finding answers to a question would yield the intended result. Other times, Lance realised from his spot between two walls of sheet metal that marked the confines of the ventilating system of the Galaxy Garrison, it lead to more questions than it answered.
Relationships: Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	To Vent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShiranaiAtsune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiranaiAtsune/gifts).



”That might be one of the worst ideas I have ever heard you come up with, which, when said about you, really says a lot.” crossing his arms in front of him, Pidge levelled a glare at Lance that, when combined with the insult, was undoubtedly meant to tell him to drop the issue right that second unless he wished to receive an hour long explanation of all the ways his idea would not work.

At Pidge’s side, Hunk shifted, glancing from Pidge and over to Lance, for a moment looking like he was a second away from making an attempt at defending Lance, only for his gaze to flicker upwards, landing near the vents as he closed his mouth again. The message was clear: there was no reason to expect that he would side with Lance in the debate.

Still, for how good Pidge was at looking at him like he had just suggested sneaking out into the hangar to steal a hoverbike, eyebrows slightly raised and with the expression of someone who would not hesitate to continue the discussion for as long as it might take to get him to drop the issue, Lance was certain that he would be able to match his stubbornness, so rather than backing down, he did his best to match Pidge’s expression, the same annoyed gleam in his eyes as he shook his head. “Pidge, Pidge, Pidge, you are not seeing the full picture here. The vents are, without a doubt, the best way to get a chance to listen in on the conversations taking place in Commander Iverson’s office, which means that it is the route we will have to take to get in there.”

It was not that Lance had expected for Pidge to give up that easily, not after a particularly brutal hour of running laps around the Galaxy Garrison had shown him how not even the threat of mud and rain could make him turn around and give up when faced with obstacles, but even with that in mind, Lance had to admit that Pidge looked entirely unimpressed as he simply looked from him and up at the vents, raising an eyebrow. “It really isn’t though.”

“Oh, yeah?” sending him a wide grin, Lance could almost see how they were approaching his victory, how, in just a couple of minutes, he would have convinced both Pidge and Hunk to go along with his plan. “Give me a single reason for that. Just one, and then we will see if—”

“It is noisy enough to alert everyone to the fact that someone is inside the vents. You risk the vents not being reinforced to a point where they can support your weight, making you fall out. You will risk lacerations if the edges of the sheet metal are sharp and you move over them.” counting along on his fingers as he listed one reason after another, Pidge looked back over at Lance. “Really, I could continue with this for a while, unless, of course, you are ready to accept the fact that your idea, to put it simply, is just really bad.” tilting his head to the side, the question to follow was clear even before Pidge continued. ”So what do you say, Lance? Are you ready to accept defeat and find something else you can waste your time on?”

“No.” it was not until he saw the little smile tugging at the corners of Pidge’s mouth that Lance realised he should have refuted the rest of the sentence as well, so it was with the warm feeling of a blush rising in his cheeks that he added to the word. “Look, I know that, if nothing else, the sound will not travel to Iverson’s office.”

“Oh, really? And how do you know that?”

Finally, that was something Lance had the answer to, so, with perhaps a bit more pride than what the situation called for, he mirrored Pidge’s gesture of folding his arms in front of him as he answered. “I tested it. I took a stick and stuck it into the vents to try to hit it against the sides when I knew that Iverson was inside his office, and he did not do anything to indicate that he had heard it.” for a moment, it looked like Pidge was about to tell him how that was hardly a sound experiment that allowed him to control his variables, even opening his mouth with a look halfway between annoyance and a smile flickering across his face, but Lance hurried to continue before he would have got a chance to even begin the sentence. “As for the vents being able to support my weight, I guess that I can’t really know whether or not that is possible, but I have to assume that they are. Besides, even if the worst were to happen, it is not like I would fall from a great height or end up in a place where I would immediately be spotted. If I just follow the vents, I should be able to move through this corridor, down the one on the right and then be directly next to Iverson’s office where there will probably be a lattice in front of the opening that will keep me hidden.”

“And the lacerations?” Pidge shifted his weight to the side, but for as much as he clearly tried to look convincing, Lance could see the arguments begin to fade away.

Victory was within reach. Now, Lance only had to reach out for it and get them to agree to help and then, in a moment, he would find himself able to listen in on the conversation he hoped to overhear. Sending Pidge a sarcastic smile, Lance gestured towards nothing in particular. ”Pidge, are you telling me that you are afraid of a few cuts? We are cadets; we should be braver than that.” as the crease between Pidge’s brows grew deeper, Lance decided that it would probably be a good time to stop teasing him, so, clearing his throat, he shook his head. “I promise that I am going to be careful. Look.” he tugged at the hem of his sleeve, pulling it down to cover his hand. “The fabric is sturdy enough to protect me from cuts. If I climb like this and am careful, I should be able to make it without any issues.”

The seconds passed in total silence as Pidge looked from him, down at his hands, and then back up at Lance, the only sound in Lance’s ears being that of his own heart as he waited for his response.

Pidge, however, was not the first of them to bring an end to the silence. Instead, Hunk was the one who moved over to stand next to Lance, placing a hand on his shoulder as he hesitated for another moment before speaking. “Lance, why do you even care this much? Is getting the small chance of hearing any gossip about the instructors really worth the risk? Why don’t we just go back to our rooms and play—”

“It is not about trying to figure out what the instructors are gossiping about, Hunk.” shoving Hunk’s hand off his shoulder, Lance took a step back, away from both Hunk and Pidge, as he gestured up towards the vents. “Don’t any of you want to know what happened for that Kogane kid to leave in such a hurry?”

“Kogane?” Hunk looked honestly confused for a moment, looking from Lance to Pidge and then finally back up at the vents as if trying to see the connection between it all. “What does he have to do with anything? I heard that he failed a test and got kicked out as a result of that.”

“Yeah, I heard that as well.” waving Hunk’s explanation aside, Lance shifted his focused towards Pidge. He was the one he would have to convince to help him, Lance knew that much. For all of his protests, if Lance were to ask for his help directly, he was certain that Hunk would end up agreeing. The real issue here was convincing Pidge to let him borrow his recorder, making Lance look over at him as he continued. “However, I think I have heard about ten different explanations for his departure, and I want to know which one of them is the true one.”

He was pushing it dangerously close to the point where Pidge would snap at him and leave without another word to either of them, leaving Lance to look after him as he would turn around the corner, Hunk shrugging as he would no doubt say something about how they just had to give him a couple of hours, but even then, Lance persisted, refusing to break eye contact.

At his side, Lance could hear the concern in Hunk’s tone of voice. “Lance, why do you care so much? Is this about you being moved up from being a cargo pilot cadet after he dropped out?”

“No, it is not!” taking a deep breath, Lance closed his eyes for a moment, already sensing how his goal was moving out of reach as he turned to look at Hunk, guilt rising up in his chest as he saw how Hunk’s eyes had widened in response to his outburst . “I… sorry, but, no, it has nothing to do with that.”

“But then what is it?”

“I—” he had been seconds away from once again insisting that he simply cared a lot about why their former classmate had left the Garrison in the middle of the night without anyone being able to give a clear explanation as to why, but Lance caught himself the moment before he would have been able to say it, instead choosing to try a different tactic. “It’s just… don’t you think that it is quite weird that no one has told us what has happened to him? I mean, he was one of the best pilots here, and then, one day, he was just gone. Is that not just a bit strange to you two? Obviously, there has to be some kind of reason, and if they won’t tell us what it is, then we have to figure it out for ourselves.”

“Lance—” with the sigh that accompanied his name, it could hardly have been more apparent how Hunk was a second away from telling him that he had watched too many political thrillers and that it was time for the three of them to head back to the dorms to get a chance to rest, but he never got the chance to finish the sentence as Pidge interrupted him.

“You are right, Lance.” he said, nodding at him.

It took every last bit of strength Lance had not to let his surprise show, not to blurt out a ‘you really think that?’ but, somehow, he was able to do just that, to simply return the nod with what he hoped was a confident smile as Hunk’s eyebrows rose, the shock evident in his eyes as he turned towards Pidge.

“What? But, Pidge, are you listening to what he is saying? Why would the Garrison try to hide something about a kid who got kicked out? That simply does not make any sense. What do they have to win by keeping it secret?”

“I don’t know.” Pidge shrugged, but as Lance looked at him, it was clear that he had won, that he had managed to get Pidge on his side. “But there is something about all of this that I don’t like. Obviously, the Garrison is hiding something, I mean, the Kerberos mission alone is proof that—” he stopped abruptly, something Lance did not know how to interpret passing over his face, but it was gone the next moment to instead let him see how Pidge shook his head as he reached into his left pocket, retrieving out what looked mostly like a little grey cube, but Lance had seen pulled out during arguments about what they had said in the past enough times to recognise as the recorder he had tried to convince him to let him borrow. “Here,” Pidge said, holding out the little cube, “if you keep this in your inner pocket, it is able to catch most conversations that you are able to hear as well. Just make sure not to put weight on it; it should be able to withstand quite a lot of pressure, but I haven’t got the chance to test the full extent of it yet and I would prefer for you not to destroy it.”

Following his instructions, Lance placed the little cube, making sure to send Pidge a smile as he patted at the pocket to make sure that there was no risk of it falling out while he was inside the vents. “Thank you.” he said. Then, turning towards Hunk, he made sure to send him the same smile. “Hunk, buddy, can I ask you to help lift me up to the vent?”

Hunk sighed, but Lance could see how he had already admitted defeat, lowering his shoulders as he stepped closer to him. The mutter of ‘sure’ only served to further emphasise it.

Between Pidge and his almost eerie ability to guess what tool they would need for the exact screws that hindered their access to the ventilation shaft and the fact that they all knew they had to act fast to lower the risk of someone turning around the corner to see what they were about to do, it only took a couple of minutes and a single attempt at lifting him up to the level of the vent before Lance was exactly where he wanted to be.

It was dusty inside the vents. In a way, Lance supposed he should have expected that, but he still found himself momentarily taken aback by the sight of the specks of dust in the air. Below his hands, even though he had pulled his sleeves down to offer a bit of protection from any exposed edges, the metal was as cold as ice. It was not exactly unpleasant, but Lance also knew that, had it not been for the general mystery that surrounded Kogane’s disappearance all those months ago, he would never have made the decision to climb inside the vents.

“Lance!”

Hearing how Hunk was trying to balance between making certain that Lance could hear him while not being loud enough for anyone to step out into the hallway to find the little corner Lance had decided was the place that came with the least risk of someone happening to pass by to see what they were doing, Lance struggled for a moment to turn around in the tight space before finally managing it and crawling back to look down at them. “Yeah?”

“Are you alright up there?”

The worry was clear in Hunk’s eyes, and although he remained quiet, Lance could see the same emotion reflected in the way Pidge held onto the metal cover, the screwdriver clutched tightly in his hand. Logically, Lance supposed that he had known that they would be worried for him, but that did not take away from the warmth that spread through his chest as he took in the proof of how he had been correct to think that, and so, even though he could feel the metal bend slightly under his weight, Lance made sure to send them the brightest smile he could muster as he nodded. “Yeah, I am perfectly fine. Just put the cover back on and then remember to be here once I get back.”

He could not allow the little hint of fear that something might happen to prevent them from being there to remove the cover once he would have to get back out to take root in his mind, so he did not wait for their response, instead once again finding himself struggling for a moment to turn around to begin making his way through the ventilation system of the Galaxy Garrison.

As much as he would never have admitted it in front of Hunk and Pidge and risk giving them yet another reason to doubt his plan, as he slowly made his way through the tiny corridor, having to keep his head so low that he was only a hand’s breadth away from crawling forward on his stomach, Lance could not deny that part of him kept replaying every scene of the hero climbing through the vents to gain access to a building he had ever seen in movies as he tried his best to keep track of just where he was in relation to Iverson’s office. It was not something he would ever share with the two others, not when he could already hear the way Pidge would sigh before beginning a long explanation about how that would not have been possible and how Hunk would have struggled to stifle a smile while asking him if he was also planning to walk away from an explosion soon, but even then, he had to keep himself from humming a fast-paced melody under his breath as he reached the first point where the air shaft he was in split up to become two. Hoping that he had not already managed to lose his idea of where he was, Lance closed his eyes for a moment, picturing how the vents were visible in the hallway next to the library, and picked the right-hand side.

Pidge had not lied when he had warned him about the risk of lacerations. Crawling through the vents, Lance could feel how the fabric of his sleeves was saving him from a dozen cuts as it got caught on a sharp edge, Lance having to tug at it to get it free before being able to continue, muttering a low thank you, careful not to make too much noise. Despite how he might have tried his best to assure Hunk and Pidge that there was no risk of being heard, it was not a theory Lance was in a hurry to test out again, and so, as he saw a bit of light enter the vents ahead of him, signalling how he was moving closer to yet another cover, a second being all he needed to go over the layout of the Garrison to realise that, unless he had made a major mistake, that had to lead into Commander Iverson’s office, Lance made sure to keep his movements slow and precise so as to not accidentally alert anyone who might be in the office to his presence.

It felt like it took ages to cross the last section, but at last, Lance was able to lie down on his stomach to look out between the little spaces between the metal bars. The angle was as far from optimal as it could be, one half of the room being completely hidden from view by the limited movement the confined space around him gave him, with the placement of the vent up high on the wall making it so that he would not see what was immediately below him, but even then, it was more than enough for Lance to know that he had chosen the right moment to execute his plan.

Not only was Commander Iverson in the office like he had hoped, sitting at the chair in the corner, an exhausted look on his face, Admiral Sanda was there as well. From the way her normally pristine appearance was gone, instead replaced with a couple of strands of hair poking out from beneath her hat and her uniform looking creased, like she had been in a hurry to get there, Lance was sure that he had arrived just in time, and so, careful to heed Pidge’s warning, he reached into his pocket, activating the recorder with a touch.

It let out a soft beep, and for a second, Lance felt how his blood became ice as he cast a glance in the direction of Sanda, convinced that she was going to look up at the vents and somehow manage to spot him through the lattice. However, as Sanda took a step forwards, there was nothing about the way she raised an eyebrow, her full attention turned towards Iverson, that would indicate that she had noticed it, so even though he made sure to keep himself from following the instinctive urge to move closer to the lattice to get a better view of the situation, Lance slowly found himself relaxing, instead focusing on the discussion that was taking place in the room below.

“Look,” Iverson said, speaking with the voice of someone who had already tried to explain the same point over and over again, “we have no way of explaining those readings. The technicians have checked everything, the satellites, the measuring equipment, and the programs. There is nothing there that would be able to explain what we are seeing right now.”

“But what about—”

“No.” even from where he was lying on his stomach, Lance could see the exhaustion in Iverson’s gesture as he brushed what Sanda had been about to say aside. “I know that she could not possibly have done it.”

“But why not? After all, she was able to avoid the guards and make her way in here. Who is to say that she did not try to look into it herself, somehow moving with the equipment and creating those inaccuracies.”

Frowning to himself, Lance looked from Sanda to Iverson and then back at her, trying his best to figure out just what they might be talking about. Readings. For as much as he tried to guess what it could be, the best answer he was able to think of was the test scores during their last flight simulation, but for as much as Lance had thought that there had been something strange about Griffin’s scores, an outlier among the cadets’ scores did not seem nearly important enough to become the subject of a discussion between Commander Iverson and Admiral Sanda.

The way Sanda walked through the room, stopping at the window to lean against the windowsill seemed to confirm the thought, especially as Iverson shook his head with a deep sigh, Lance having to pay close attention to catch every word of what he was saying as he moved over to stand next to her, hoping to himself that the recorder would be able to catch it as well. If spending time with Hunk and Pidge had taught him one thing, it was that his friends were not exactly known for giving up when faced with a mystery, so right now, the best thing he could do was to make sure that they had access to the conversation to the same extent as he had had.

“I know that Holt is not the one behind these readings, Admiral.”

Holt? Lance had to bring his hand up to cover his mouth to keep himself from gasping, the memory of how the screens in the mess hall had changed from the usual reminder of the rules to instead show the announcement of ‘pilot error’ with the names of those involved in the mission following soon after rising up from where he had tried his best to push it away in the weeks following the incident. If he remembered correctly, other than Shiro, the team had consisted of Samuel Holt and his son, Matthew Holt. Lance could not say that he knew a lot about either of them, but still, he was certain that Samuel Holt had had two children, and that there had been rumours about some girl who looked an awful lot like them having been escorted from the premises after trying to break in.

Going against everything he knew Pidge would have told him to do if he had been there, Lance pulled himself a bit closer to the conversation, not willing to risk missing out on a single word of it.

“Oh?” Sanda turned around. “How can you be so sure about that, Commander? You said it yourself; we have no way of explaining what we are seeing, no way other than it being the result of someone deliberately trying to make us look into the Kerberos mission yet again.”

The Kerberos mission. Then it had to be the girl they were discussing.

“You and I both know that the timelines would not add up if that was truly the case. Why would she have made it so that the readings would only begin to diverge from the expected pattern now, almost a year after we lost contact with the team? No, there has to be another explanation for all of it.”

“But what can we do about it? Even if we were to find out that the readings are caused by more than Holt’s attempt at gaining access to the files, most likely, the fluctuations are the result of radiation.”

Iverson let out a soft sigh, shaking his head before answering. “But we don’t know that. If nothing else, I would be much happier about all of this once the scientists have got a chance to look at it.”

“This information is classified as highly confidential, Commander.”

A shiver ran down Lance’s spine as he suddenly found himself extremely thankful both for the cover the shadows around him provided as well as for how both Iverson and Sanda seemed to be completely absorbed in their discussion. The risk of being seen, of having them look up and realise that he was listening in on the conversation, was not something he wanted to even consider with that little piece of information in mind.

“That was to keep the rumour of it from spreading around the Garrison though. Not to keep us from being able to look into it again.”

“Perhaps.” Sanda’s voice was sharp, and even tough Lance could remember being reprimanded by Iverson more times than he could count, listening to her, he could not help but feel a little twinge of sympathy for him as Sanda continued. “However, no matter the reason for it, neither of us has the clearance to share the documents with anyone.”

“That is why I need you on my side when I discuss this during our next meeting, Admiral.” Iverson let the sentence trail off, and Lance knew that tactic too well to not be aware of just what he was hoping to achieve, so even though Iverson had moved to stand with his back towards him, Lance could still picture the way he was looking over at Sanda, waiting and hoping for her to give in.

The seconds passed, the air in the room feeling tense and full of unsaid secrets that Lance could only try to think of, finding that he did not even know just what they were talking about or what it was that he had yet to figure out. All he could say for certain was that the silence was not due to either of them being unsure of their own stance on the issue, but rather a sign that both Iverson and Sanda were waiting for the other to give in and side with them.

Finally, Sanda let out a sigh, and just as Lance had known that he had secured his friends’ support only a few minutes ago, he knew that Iverson had just managed to, if not convince her to trust him, then at least convince her to not outright argue against him during the meeting they appeared to be planning for even before she had uttered a word.

“Fine.” Sanda said it like it caused her physical pain, which, with what little Lance had been able to learn about her and her opinion on rank and rules, it might honestly have done, “you have a point. I… I will not try to hide the fact that I think it is madness to believe that this is the result of anything other than a slight variation in the readings, but if you really want to get it tested again, I will not stand in your way.”

Had it been a discussion between him and Hunk, Lance knew that that would have been the point where they would have given each other a hug and headed towards the mess hall to eat dinner, but Iverson and Sanda simply stood there for another moment, neither of them moving or making any indication that they were about to do so until Iverson bowed his head at her.

“Thank you,” he said, looking back up at her as he clasped his hands behind his back, “I appreciate that. Now, should we head to the hangar to get another chance to go over the readings?”

If Sanda said anything in response to the question, it was too low for Lance to be able to make out the exact words, but it must have been affirmative, for the next moment, both Iverson and Sanda were heading towards the door, Sanda pushing it open with a single motion and letting it fall shut behind her and Iverson, leaving the room in silence as Lance finally allowed himself to lower his hand. A short, disbelieving laugh that bordered on the hysterical escaped from his chest to fill the room as he fought to take in what had just happened.

Other than the mentions of the Kerberos mission, there was nothing about the conversation that even sounded like it could have been about Kogane, and even then, they had not given any indication that the rumours about how the kid had tried to insist that the pilot could still be alive, having even gone so far as to try to force his way into Iverson’s office to find any piece of evidence to support his theory, might be true. Instead, it seemed that the only part of the rumour that had had any degree of truth to it had been the part about someone having tried to get into the office, but even then, it had been some relative of one of the other team members who had made the attempt.

It should have felt like a defeat as Lance struggled to turn around in the narrow passage, and in a way, he was able to realise that it was, the mission having left him none the wiser about the reasons for Kogane having washed out to leave his spot in the class for him, but as he once again reached into his pocket to make certain that the recorder was still intact, Lance could not ignore the surge of anticipation of just what kind of information Hunk and Pidge might be able to find in the fragments of the larger discussion he had been able to overhear as he began to make his way back to where they were hopefully waiting for him to return.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the request of Lance hanging out in the vents - a lovely idea and a nice excuse for me to watch a lot of videos of people trying to climb in vents (after watching them, I can only say that Pidge is absolutely right: climbing around in vents is not something to try in real life) so thank you so much for giving me this idea, Shiranai Atsune!
> 
> Anyway, if you want, feel free to find me on [Tumblr](https://reaching-the-stars.tumblr.com/post/625988212520894465/faustmor-some-old-sketches)


End file.
